St. Ignace dodged a bullet Friday night as it hung on for a 26-20 football triumph over North Dickinson in a Division 8 regional final.

Senior safety Curtis St. Louis preserved the victory by intercepting a pass on the St. Ignace 20-yard line in the final 18.7 seconds, just two plays after North Dickinson recovered an onside kick at the Saints’ 33.

“I saw their tight end come out and read the quarterback’s eyes,” said St. Louis. “I just wanted to help out our linebacker. At halftime, our coach (Marty Spencer) told us not to let up because they can score points in bunches.”

That was the second interception in the fourth quarter for St. Louis, an All-Upper Peninsula defensive back who also swiped a pass at the St. Ignace 44 with 3:04 remaning.

“If he wouldn’t have made that play, I probably would have had a heart attack on the field,” said Spencer. “He’s supposed to make those plays, and he made a couple at the end to seal the victory.”

The victory sends the Saints (12-0) to the state semifinals for the second straight year. They’ll face Beal City (12-0) Saturday at a site to be selected by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

“At least we got there,” said Spencer. “Now we know we have the opportunity to play in the state semifinals, which is all you can ask for.”

North Dickinson (10-1) finished the scoring on senior Ken Pekarek’s QB sneak with 33.5 seconds left to play, setting the stage for the onside kick.

One play after the onside kick, Pekarek fired a pass to the near which was just out of reach of junior Tim Hruska inside the Saints’ 10.

St. Ignace gained a seemingly comfortable 26-0 advantage on St. Louis’s 14-yard burst through the middle with four minutes, 38 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Nordics (10-1) responded on the ensuing possession as Pekarek fired a 30-yard TD pass to a wide-open Hruska in the left side of the endzone, trimming their deficit to 26-7.

“Getting that first score on the board was huge,” said Nordics’ coach Joe Reddinger. “There’s no quit in these kids. They played with a lot of heart all year. I thought we had a great season.”

The Nordics pulled within 26-14 early in the fourth stanza when Hruska broke off left guard for a 16-yard TD run on a counter play.

St. Ignace reached North Dickinson’s five twice in the fourth stanza, but lost the ball both times on fumbles.

Page 2 of 3 - “We were trying to control the clock,” said Spencer. “If we score on those drives, the game’s over. You can’t turn the ball over like that against a good team.”

North Dickinson eventually capitalized, but the Saints were able down the fort in the end.

“I think playing in last year’s regional final (in a 27-14 victory over Forest Park) really helped us,” said St. Louis. “I didn’t have any butterflies on the bus ride up here. Last year, I had a lot of those before we played Forest Park. We really appreciated the efforts of our defensive backs coach (Rick Frazier). We worked on having our cornerbacks stay home because we knew their quarterback liked to roll out and throw.”

The Saints opened the scoring late in the opening frame when junior QB Tyler Snyder fired an 11-yard aerial to a wide-open senior Parker Simmons for a 7-0 lead.

St. Ignace then gained a 14-0 cushion on St. Louis’s 15-yard dash around right end with 8:36 left in the second quarter.

St. Louis’s first score took place three plays after the Nordics gambled on a fake punt and lost the ball on downs at their own 38 on a fourth-and-three situation.

“We felt we needed to do something to pump some life into our offense,” said Reddinger. “We thought the holes were there, but they closed on us. We didn’t make any plays in the first half. We dug ourselves in too deep a hole.”

North Dickinson gave itself a scoring chance when senior Cody Berg pounced on a fumble at the St. Ignace 18. The Nordics, however, were unable to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs at the nine.

The Saints then marched 91 yards, raising the count to 20-0 on Synder’s 11-yard pass through the middle to senior Joe Ostman 35 seconds before the intermission.

“Our defense really stood up, and we took it 90 yards with some great offensive line play,” said Spencer. “I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage for the first three quarters. That fourth quarter was a credit to North Dickinson. They don’t quit, and they had a chance to win in the end.”

The Saints outgained the Nordics 383-346 in total offense. Senior fullback Dick Bentley led in rushing with 97 yards on 16 carries. Galloway Thurston added 72 in 12 attempts and St. Louis had 71 in eight trips.

Snyder completed 7-of-14 passes for 137 yards, two TDs and two interceptions. Ostman caught three aerials for 50 and Simmons snagged a pair for 43.

Senior Dominic Christian led the Nordics in rushing with 104 yards on 18 carries and junior Matt Schultz had 62 in eight attempts.

Page 3 of 3 - Pekarek was 5-of-15 passing for 105 yards, a TD and three interceptions.